PROLOGUE

Before the Bitterness

I used to believe that love, once real, never truly dies.

But I've learned that's a lie we tell ourselves to survive.

There was a time when his eyes held nothing but warmth.

When his laugh filled our home. When his hands built cribs and

held our babies close like they were the meaning of his life.

There was a time I belonged to him in every way a woman can

belong to a man.